Device for suspending ships&#39; boats from davits.



0. J. lVlcGOWAN.

DEVICE FOR SUSPENDING SHIPS BOATS FROM DAVITS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 22, 1918.

Patented Aug. 13, 1918.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

0.1. McGOWAN.

DEVICE FOR SUSPENDING SHIPS BOATS FROM DAVITS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 22, 19l8.

Patented Aug 13, 1918.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

OWEN J. MCGOWAN, F BROOKLYN, YORK.

DEVICE FOR SUSPENDING SHIPS BOATS FROM DAVI'I'S.

Speci'fication of Letters Patent Application filed May 22. 1918. Serialmfaasms.

T 0 (177 whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OWEN J. MoGowAN, a citizen of the United States, anda, resident of the borough of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and Stateof New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inDevices for Suspending Ships Boats from Davits, of which the followingis a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in devices for suspending shipsboats from davits.

The invention is particularly adapted for use with metal life-boatswhich are suspended from ships davits by Raymonds automatic releasinghooks, United States Patent-s Nos. 751,205 and 89i,3l5, but it is alsoadapted to be used in connection with the suspension of other boats,such as power launches, and from any davits or other means forsuspension of boats on vessels.

The use of metal hulled life-boats, in place of wooden hulled, is nowbecoming general, because of the greater strength, durability and otheradvantages of the metal boats. But the proper connection of thesuspending shackles, by which the boats are suspended from the davits.has proved to be a matter of great difficulty, and especially when theshackles are such as are suitable for engagement with said automaticreleasing hooks on the davit tackles and falls. The life-boats, andespecially when loaded with people, are

of such great weight that the suspending devices which connect theshackles with the boats must be very securely fastened to the boats, andalso be of such shape and construction as to have the necessary strengthin themselves, and be securely fastened to the life-boat, withoutinterference with readily. attaching and particularly the automaticdetaching of the shackles from said automatic releasing hooks. I

In practice. I have found that the only reliable way in which theshackles can be secured to metal life-boats is by suspending theshackles from the keel of the boat, so that the whole great weight, evenof the loaded boat, is suspended from the keel. No connection with anyother part of the boat is adequate, and when the boat-gear is connectedwith any other part of the boat than the keel there is liability of theboat-gear breaking away from the boat, or of other serious accidentsoccurring.

This invention therefore, first provides means for eflecting thesuspension of the boat-gear from the keel conveniently and securely.

This invention also relates to the provision of what I term the looseswivel connection of releasing hooks 'with the blocks of tackles bywhich the life-boat is raised and lowered by the davits. Thisarrangement is of great utility, as will be hereinafter set forth, andgreatly cheapens the construction by this method of attaching it to theblocks in their connection with the releasing hooks; since it allowshooks and blocks being readily combined together, without the necessityof always having the hooks and blocks combined together and carried instock. This arrangement, in fact, permits of any suitable block beingreadily combined with a hook, with but little skill, and by evenunskilled labor, so that it will be easy to always combine the hookswith the blocks, thereby materially reducing the cost, and also greatlyfacilitating the application of the hooks to the blocks, which is agreat saving of time.

Other advantages of the invention will be manifest from the descriptionhereinafter given.

Referring to the drawings which accompany the specification to aid thedescription, Figure 1. is a broken longitudinal elevation of a life-boatequipped with one form of the invention and suspended by means of theRaymond automatic releasing-hooks from the clavits; Fig. 2 is a brokenside elevation, on large scale, illustrating the invention with a stiffswivel arrangement of the releasing hook, and Fig. 3 is a broken frontelevation of the sameparts and on the same scale, but showing theengagement of the keel and the suspending rod in section, and

also indicating a part of the hull of the lifeboat. Fig. 4 is a brokenside elevation on large scale of the invention with a loose swivelarrangement of the releasing hook,

Patented Aug. 13, 1918.

and Fig. 5 is a front broken section and elevation of the same partsthat are shown in Fig. 4.

The life-boat A (Fig. 1) is supended, fore and aft, from the releasinghooks p-g by shackles m, which must be very securely fastened to thelife-boats near their ends;

and I have found, as hereinbefore stated,

that the only way of so securing said shackles to metal life-boats is tosuspend said shackles from the keel B. Such suspension of the shacklefrom the keel is accomplished by the following construction 1- Saidshackles m are preferably pivoted on the upper ends of suspension rodsj, said rods being preferably forged in single integral pieces forstrength and with ends Z, and the pivotal connection between saidshackle m and the end of said suspension rod being similar to that of ahinge, with a hinge pin n passing through the hinge knuckles; suchconnection of said shackle with said suspension rod providing for theproper movement of the shackle on the suspension rod without unduewabbling.

Next provision has to be made for the secure connection of the lowerends of the said suspension rod 9' with the said keel B, and this iseffected in the following manner Said suspension rods j-are provided attheir lower ends with yokes or clevises g, which fit on the lower end Zof said rods 9'.

Said yokes or clevises g are securely bolted to said keel B bytransverse bolts and in order to provide sufiicient metal'at t e properpart of said keel B, to permit of making the bolt hole at the properplace, said keel is furnished, at the desired places with ears 6, whichpermit of having sufficient metal at the holes for the said bolts,without increasing the depth of the whole keel more than is suflicientfor the proper strength of the boat; but of course the keel could be, ifdesired, made so deep that the use of the ears of lugs I) would not benecessary. While this invention is especially intended for boats withmetal keels, it can be readily applied to boats with wooden keels bybolting plates of steel having ears for the bolt holes of said bolts f,on said wooden keel by bolts which run down through the keel and firmlyand securely connect said steel plates with the keel. In saidconstruction, it will be clearly understood, that the said clevises 9will engage the said plates, and therefore, the suspension rods willequally in these wooden keel boats, and in the metal keel boats, supportthe boat from the keel.

When in position in the boat, said suspension rods Wlll ordinarily assat their u per parts through suitable ho es in thwarts by which saidrods will be preserved in proper upright position. Said shackles m willfinally be hinged on the open ends of said sus ension rods ashereinbefore described. s will be well understood, said shackles m areengaged, when the boat is hanging from the davits C-C (Fig. 4), byautomatic releasing-hooks pg, and my invention provides for either the,stiff swivel connection of the shanks p of said hooks with the blocks 8,(Figs. 2 and'3) or for the loose swivel connection-of the shanks of saidhooks with said blocks, as seen in Figs. 4 and 5. In the said stiffswivel connection of Fig. 1, the said shanks p are riveted to thestrap 1) of said block as shown, said blocks swiveling but notoscillating or tumbling on said hooks.

But in other cases it is desirable that said blocks have considerablefree oscillating as well as swiveling motion on the hooks, and Iaccomplish this by the construction and arrangement shown in Figs. 4 and5, wherein the shank 2 of said automatic releasing hook is provided withring w, and said ring 20 is suspended in the strap ow of the said block8.

In said loose swivel connection, shown in said Figs. 4 and 5, the hookspg are equipped with said rings or eyes to which are kept in stock andare sold with the said hooks ,p-q. The tackle-blocks s are provided withstraps ow, projecting below the said blocks 8, and forming eyes orsockets to be engaged by said rings to of the said hooks pg. The pintlesu of the sheaves t-t of said blocks 8 pass through holes in said strapsow, and in this way said straps 'vw are held in position, and so thatsaid hooks 10-51 are supported by said blocks and their tackles. Saidpintles u are held against lengthwise motion in position in the blocks 8by small plates y(z/ inserted in said blocks and secured by tacks. Thus,when it is desired to connect the releasing hook with any one of suchblocks, such cover plates y are easily pried off from the blocks 8, saidpintles u are driven out by a suitable tool, and said straps o:v arepulled out of said blocks 8. Then the rings to are placed on'saidstraps, and said straps are replaced in said block, the pintles uare again driven through said block and through said sheaves, and thecover plates y-y are again tacked on the blocks in their proper positionto 'retain said pintles in place, and now the said releasing hooks willbe connected with the new blocks and tackle. This change can be readilyand cheaply made, and it enables the user of the releasing hooks to keepon hand a number of the blocks, and to connect them with the releasingbooks at very small trouble and expense.

In the case of the stiff swivels shown in Figs. 2 and 3, it will be seenthat a similar construction may also be employed for readily connectingthe said releasing hooks p-g with the blocks. This construction is soplain from Figs. 2 and 3, with reference to the description hereinbeforegiven of the loose swivel connection of Figs. 3 and 4, that no furtherdescription of it is required.

Now having described my improvements, I claim as my invention:

1. The combination with automatic re leasing devices for raising andlowering a life-boat, of a life-boat having a metal keel, shacklesadapted to engage said devices, suspension metal rods having a hingedengagement with said shackles at their upper Ill ends, clevises on thelower ends of said suspension rods, and means for en aging said cleviceswith said'keel of said 1i e-boat.

2. In life-boat davit apparatus, the combination of a metal life-boathaving a metal keel, automatic releasing device for suspending andreleasing said life boat, a suspending shackle anda suspension rodmovably connected at the upper end with said shackle, and a clevis onthe lower end of said sus ension rod connected with said keel of saidife-boat.

3. The combination with a life-boat'hav ing a metal keel, of davits forsuspending -'sa1d boats, automatic releasing hooks operatively connectedwith saiddavits, shackles adapted to engage said hooks, suspension rodsmovably connected with said shackles at their upper ends, and cleviseson the lower ends of said ssupension rods connected with said keel. 4.In life-boat suspending apparatus,-the r combination with the suspendingshackle, of

the keel of a life-boat provided with enlarged portions positioned atpoints adapted to be engaged with clevises, and suspension rods of saidclevises movably connected with said shackles at their upper ends.

5. In life-boat suspending apparatus, the combination of a life-boathavin a metal keel, davits and blocks and falls or raising and loweringsaid life-boats, automatic releasing hooks, a loose swiveled connectionof said hooks with said blocks, shackles'engaging said hooks, metalsuspension rods havin a 1 nged connection at their upper ends wit saidshackles and clevises on the lower ends of" said suspension rodsconnected with said keel.

'Si ed at New York city, in the, county of New York and State of NewYork, this 14th day of May, A. D, 1918.

OWEN J. MoGOWAN.

